Left Handed
by Cryokinesis
Summary: In which Atem is taught something new and comes to realize just how important his other half is to him. One shot.


Alright, so I watched the Final Duel the other day for the first time in ages and saw something I didn't even notice/think about before that I thought was cute, thus this was born. Enjoy. :)

* * *

"Yugi, why are holding your pen the wrong way?" Yugi looked up at his counterpart Atem, who stared intently at the pencil in his hand, head slightly turned to the side. He sounded genuinely worried, which made Yugi start to giggle.

It had been two weeks since their final duel. The battle that, ironically, brought Yugi and Atem closer together as opposed to splitting them apart like the prophecy had ordered. Atem, who after realizing leaving Yugi was only going to hurt the two of them, refused to continue on. Staying meant being stuck on Earth when they all knew he shouldn't, that his time to cross over had long since passed, but at the time nothing else matter. Nothing else except Yugi.

That's when the Gods stepped in. They hadn't been pleased at first, but through begging and pleas of understanding of his friends, and of course himself and Yugi, Atem received more than he could ever ask for. His friends didn't want to see him go just as much as he didn't _want _to go and the gods knew that. He would never truly know what exactly swayed their decision and he couldn't have cared less. He was right where he wanted to be - with his Aibou.

The rules were simple. None of the Millennium items were allowed to be kept. They would all perish with the underground sanctuary as to keep them from anyone wishing to reek havoc on the world. The Pharaoh was to have his own body, but only until the day Yugi's soul no longer dwelled within his. That was it. No sacrifice, no pain. Just the right to live the rest of the life that was taken from him so long ago. It was odd, and Atem knew there was a catch, somehow, in it all, yet for the moment...he was content.

Now, content as he was, he couldn't lie and say that as a reincarnated Pharaoh from 5,000 years ago, in _Egypt _no less, adjusting to 21st Domino was a simple task. Even if he shared Yugi's body for the years he had. Observing from inside the corners of Yugi's conscious had nothing on actually living it. There were so many things he didn't know. There was feeding himself, something he hadn't had to deal with in centuries, customs and mannerisms to overcome, education, _technology._ It was so overwhelming that half the time he felt like his brain was about to explode.

But he was willing to learn all their was to living in the modern world, which is why he seemed so intrigued by as small of a detail as Yugi holding his pen in the opposite hand that he was accustomed to. "What is funny?" Atem serious face dropped, seemingly offended

"Oh, Mou Hitori No Boku, I'm not laughing at you! I promise. And I'm not holding my pen the wrong way, actually." He corrected, smiling at the other.

"You're not?"

Yugi shook his head in confirmation, which just made the former Pharaoh look even more confused.

"But then why are you holding it in your left hand?" Yugi vaguely remembered one of his grandfather's talks of Ancient Egypt. Thinking back on it, he recalled the explanations of strict upbringing, especially the Nobles, were put under. You did things a certain way, and if you looked as if you were straying, you were brought back by a firm hand. It made sense why Atem didn't understand the concept of a right handed and left handed person. Back in his time, there were no left handed people. They were taught out of it because a custom, well...was a custom. He guessed it was just one more thing he'd have to teach the other about. He didn't mind it, though.

Quite contrary to what his taller companion believed, he actually quite enjoyed teaching Atem new things. Which, seeing as how oblivious he was to many things, was becoming a part time job for him and he loved it. It was just one more thing he got to do with his other half. Remembering that Atem was still patiently waiting for an answer, he replied, "Did they not have left handed people in Ancient Egypt?" even though he already knew the answer.

Atem hoisted himself up with his arms, crisscrossed his legs under him, and sat back down in his arm chair, biting his lip in thought. "No, not that I can recall. Are you saying that it's normal, Yugi? Is this another norm? Have I been using my pencil incorrectly all this time and you just haven't said anything? Gods, I thought I was doing everything right so far!" The questions poured out.

Yugi's eyes widened. "Mou Hitori, calm down! Just listen. You aren't doing anything wrong. Being left handed is _genetic."_

"Genetic?" The curious look on the elder's face returned.

"Yup. My guess is back in your time they taught who ever showed signs of being left hand dominant out of it. Conditioning someone out of it isn't impossible, just not something people do or have done for quite some time. The left side is no longer seen as a cursed one anymore. It used to be different. People believed the left side signified demons and the devil way back when."

Atem nodded, all attention on his teacher, making Yugi smile again. He took this stuff _way _too seriously_._

"But wait. Tea, Joey, and Tristan? All of your friends are right handed, aibou. At least that I can remember at this moment. You are the only left handed person I seem to recall ever seeing up to this point."

Yugi shook his head, putting his homework on the coffee table beside him and sitting up straighter in his place on the couch. "That's not true. Mai is left handed, too. You just haven't noticed. Most of the world's population is right handed. Only about ten percent of people on Earth are left handed. Pretty cool, huh?"

Atem's eyes widened at that. From what Yugi had told him, there were billions of people who inhabited all land on Earth. For only ten percent of them to share the trait Yugi had was pretty remarkable. His heart warmed at that. That was just like his partner, sticking out like he always had.

Apparently, the amethyst eye boy wasn't finished, because he continued, caught up in his tiny lesson of life. Atem focused his eyes back on him, the one who exceeded his expectations every day.

"There's actually personality traits linked to which hand you write with as well. I did a project on it my freshman year. While right handed people tend to be more logical, more structurally bound, left handed people are more the imaginative thinkers. The ones who show more of an artistic ability, you know? They tend to be more shy than others. They are good problems solvers. They're more disorganized. They're more prone to have mental defects..." With each topic he listed, he ticked it off with his finger. "But overall, it's just a different mix of genetics, that's all. It's nothing special. Most of the time it's just a pain in the butt." He lifted his left hand up to show Atem the blackened side of his hand, no doubt from sliding it across his homework as he was writing not too long ago.

The reincarnated Pharaoh had to agree with that. In a world made for right handed people, everything Yugi came in contact with that required his hands must have been made for one as well. Nevertheless, Atem still thought it was a cool trait to have. And whether his other wanted to admit it or not, Atem knew that each characteristic almost perfectly described his little one.

Yugi was always the one with the imagination. Years ago when both of them were met with boredom, Atem would lay beside Yugi on his bed as he told some of the most mystical, out of this world stories. His other loved puzzles, loved the challenge of solving anything that seemed too difficult for anyone else to handle, which inevitable brought the two of them together. His aibou was an artistic one, indeed.

He had no mental illness that Atem knew of, but he did know for a fact Yugi took medication for ADD. And as for shy, there wasn't a person on this Earth as reserved as Yugi, and that would forever be the truth. Of course, there were most likely some traits that were stereotypical for left handers that Yugi didn't possess, he _was_ his own person, but a special one he was.

What about himself, though? When Atem thought about it, he was the complete opposite of what Yugi described. Of course, he wasn't left handed, but still. Him and his other half were so contrasting...

But that's what made them perfect for each other. The greatest match. Atem didn't think Ishizu could have been more wrong that day when they dueled together. They weren't the same person. Not at all. Together, they _made _one person.

And in that moment, Atem couldn't have been any happier. He truly was were he belonged. He melted at the thought. All the doubts, all the questions, they blew up in smoke as he gazed lovingly at the young boy sitting off to the side of him. His partner, his _aibou._

"What are you staring at?" Yugi brought him out of his thoughts, looking self conscious.

"You." He answered truthfully.

"What about me?"

Atem got up from his spot in the chair and made his way over to sit down beside Yugi, both of them facing each other. The questioning, curious look in Yugi's eyes turned into something more.

"You're perfect." and with that, he leaned in and kissed the other's lips.

* * *

Just something short and sweet I couldn't let go :) sometimes it cracks me up how deep the Yu-Gi-Oh writers went into the contrasting personalities of Atem and Yugi.

Where my fellow lefties at?! ahah.

Review and favorite, I'm always down for that.

Hope you liked it!

-Katrina.


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